Laugh yourself better

t’s March 2020, the first week of the UK’s nationwide lockdown, and I’m standing in my living room, staring at a bunch of strangers on my computer screen. We’re squeezing ‘laughter cream’ from an imaginary tube onto our palms and faking the giggles as we rub it over our bodies. I’m joining in, despite the fact that I’m finding the whole session bizarre and way out of my comfort zone. But in the middle of an already bonkers and discomforting week, faking laughter with a load of strangers feels like just another thing that’s happening. And it’s hard to imagine now, but doing so is going to end